I. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to furniture such as office furniture, and in particular relates to ergonometric work stations.
II. PRIOR ART AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Machine operators such as typist and video display terminal operators frequently complain that the nature and positioning of the work surface upon which their equipment is placed causes fatigue. In particular, at a conventional desk an operator must sit, perhaps for hours, with the operator's back being essentially vertical in relation to the floor. Sitting erect subjects an individual's back to an increased bending moment which is substantially larger than the bending moment which is placed on an individual's spine when the individual is standing erect. This increased spinal loading for extended periods of time leads to back injury. Also, it is not uncommon for a conventional desk to be either too high or too low for a particular operator. The effect of such problems is to reduce the productivity of the employee.
Consequently, effort has been directed towards developing improved work stations. More recently the ergonometric relationships between the user and a computer or video display terminal have been brought into consideration, primarily because of the unique problems facing this type of system usage.
Various prior art devices provide a work surface which is ultimately connected to a seat. For many of these devices it is not possible to adjust the positioning of the work surface, such as the angle of inclination of the work surface. For other devices it is not possible to selectively adjust the extent to which the seat reclines, much less to make such a seat adjustment while maintaining a constant spatial relationship between the work surface and the seated operator.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a work station wherein the spatial distance between a work surface and a seated operator remains essentially constant as a seat is selectively adjustable about a horizontal axis.
An advantage of the invention is the provision of a work station for which an operator can selectively adjust the height and angle of inclination of a plurality of support surfaces.
Another advantage of the invention is the provision of an adjustable arm support which permits an operator to rest his arms in a range of comfortable positions.
Another advantage of the present invention is the provision of a work station for which the positioning of a work surface relative to a chair can be adjusted to take into consideration the physical characteristics and preferences of an operator.